Molecular characterization and prospective isolation of human fetal cochlear hair cell progenitors.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30279445.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-06334-7 and PMC identifier 6168603.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Sensory hair cells located in the organ of Corti are essential for cochlear mechanosensation. Their loss is irreversible in humans resulting in permanent hearing loss. The development of therapeutic interventions for hearing loss requires fundamental knowledge about similarities and potential differences between animal models and human development as well as the establishment of human cell based-assays. Here we analyze gene and protein expression of the developing human inner ear in a temporal window spanning from week 8 to 12 post conception, when cochlear hair cells become specified. Utilizing surface markers for the cochlear prosensory domain, namely EPCAM and CD271, we purify postmitotic hair cell progenitors that, when placed in culture in three-dimensional organoids, regain proliferative potential and eventually differentiate to hair cell-like cells in vitro. These results provide a foundation for comparative studies with otic cells generated from human pluripotent stem cells and for establishing novel platforms for drug validation.
Medical subject headings
- Organ of Corti